For the Money

Bedroom.

At that moment, Xia Ping sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating the Pure Yang Indestructible Art to refine the Fire Bear Beast meat he had just eaten. A wave of searing energy rose from his stomach and flowed through his meridians, strengthening the true qi within him.

"Impressive. No wonder it's a top-tier technique!"

After completing one full cycle, Xia Ping opened his eyes, a glint flashing in them. He could feel his true qi had grown a little stronger. In just a few breaths, he had completely refined the energy contained in the Fire Bear Beast meat, making it his own.

Ordinary cultivation methods took at least a full day to completely refine food. Even then, most of its energy was lost and excreted.

But when Xia Ping circulated the Pure Yang Indestructible Art, he felt as if his stomach had turned into a furnace. In an instant, it devoured and refined the beast meat, filtering out the impurities and keeping only its essence.

That was the advantage of a top-tier technique. Even in terms of energy absorption alone, ordinary techniques couldn't compare.

"Too bad there wasn't much Fire Bear Beast meat. If I had more, I could break through to the Martial Apprentice Fifth Heaven in less than half a month." Xia Ping clenched his fist.

If he could eat Fire Bear Beast meat every day, without any limit, he was sure he'd improve at an astonishing pace. Breaking through to the Martial Apprentice Fifth Heaven would be nothing, and with cultivation like that, he'd have no trouble getting into a top university.

But Fire Bear Beast meat was too expensive—six hundred Federal Coins per pound. His family couldn't afford it.

"No wonder those rich kids make such rapid progress, even with ordinary talent. They can pile on resources until they get ahead, far surpassing ordinary students." Xia Ping couldn't help but sigh.

At school, some rich kids looked down on ordinary students. They ate beast meat and all kinds of supplements every day. How could their martial arts cultivation not be strong?

Ordinary students could only train hard and absorb the meager spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Of course they couldn't keep up, and as time passed, the gap only grew wider.

"But with this system, maybe I can exchange Hate Points for some top-grade pills." Xia Ping's eyes flickered. Earlier, at the school's Flying Dragon Platform, he had earned two hundred and twenty Hate Points.

There had been more students watching at the time, so naturally, he'd earned more Hate Points than he had in class.

"But even this many Hate Points isn't enough. I have to save my best resources for when they matter. I can't stir up hatred every moment of the day, or I'll become a public enemy and have nowhere left to go. It's a double-edged sword, so I have to use it carefully."

Thinking of this, Xia Ping felt a little helpless. "Looks like I still need money. Without it, I can't buy all kinds of pills or beast meat, and I can't quickly improve my martial arts cultivation."

If he were still the same unremarkable student as before, there'd be nothing wrong with taking his father up on the offer to become a city management officer. Living an ordinary, peaceful life could be its own kind of happiness.

But now he had fused with the memories of someone from another world, and he had this remarkable system. A trace of ambition had stirred inside him. He wanted to see what the view was like at the peak of martial arts.

"But how do I make money?"

Xia Ping was troubled. He was just an ordinary student. Even with a top-tier technique, he was only at the Martial Apprentice Fourth Heaven. He couldn't get much work out in the world.

Starting a business was out of the question: he had neither capital nor experience. Hunting monsters was another option, but at the Martial Apprentice Fourth Heaven, he'd probably just end up as monster food. Even if he could get a part-time job, it would be something ordinary, like waiting tables or handing out flyers. He couldn't make much money that way, not enough to meet his cultivation needs.

"Right, why not write novels?"

Xia Ping's eyes suddenly lit up. "Even on Yanhuang Planet, a world far more technologically advanced than Earth, the power of the written word hasn't faded. The best novelists earn more than a billion Federal Coins a year. That's wealth on par with the top martial artists, which proves that the novel industry has a very bright future.

"Besides, piracy is practically nonexistent in this world, copyright awareness is strong, and there are countless paying readers. That's made the novel industry extremely prosperous."

He thought of the memories from his time on Earth. He'd read countless popular novels, and thanks to the fusion of memories, he could remember everything he'd read in perfect detail. He could even recite those novels from beginning to end.

He'd settled on writing novels, but the question was which one. Novels came in countless genres: urban, fantasy, martial arts, science fiction, historical fiction, romance, mystery, and more.

"Fantasy and martial arts novels are definitely out."

Xia Ping immediately ruled out those two genres. This was a world where martial arts had already flourished to the extreme. Fantasy and martial arts novels weren't fiction here; they were reality.

Besides, a fantasy novel that had been a hit on Earth might not be popular on Yanhuang Planet.

Urban novels were even more out of the question. Yanhuang Planet and Earth weren't the same world at all, so there was nothing to draw on.

Historical fiction and romance weren't even worth considering.

Mystery novels were pretty good, but there was no guarantee they'd catch on in this world.

"So does that mean writing novels won't work? No, that's not right. There's one kind of novel that's bound to be a hit." Xia Ping immediately perked up. "Sensual fiction. Right, I can write sensual fiction."

Sensual fiction, put more crudely, was erotic fiction.

In China on Earth, this kind of novel was strictly forbidden and couldn't be published online. The shameless authorities would ban every batch they came across.

Crack down on obscenity!

A sweeping crackdown!

Authors who made a splash writing these novels could even be arrested and sent to prison, leaving them in a miserable predicament. Some who wrote only mildly suggestive stories had their books banned too. It was practically a literary inquisition.

Even so, in that bleak era, some sensual novels still shone brightly. Countless men savored them, hailing them as sacred texts and

"Exactly. I'll write sensual fiction."

Xia Ping clenched his fist. "The setting, world, and technology might be different, but everyone's still human, and the men are still men, thinking with their lower halves like animals. If this kind of novel could become wildly popular on Earth, it can become wildly popular on Yanhuang Planet too."

More importantly, this kind of novel wasn't banned on Yanhuang Planet. The culture here was extremely open, and anyone over twelve could read it. He didn't have to worry about getting his book taken down.

"To make money, I have to write erotic fiction."

A sacred light gleamed in Xia Ping's eyes as he clenched his fist. He'd finally found a road to wealth and prosperity.

But what should he write as his first sensual novel? Earth had plenty of classics, but he needed one that would become an instant sensation, grab everyone's attention, and make him a star overnight.

Right, he'd write Teacher Bai Rong. Xia Ping remembered this classic sensual novel. It had been his introduction to the genre, keeping him company through countless lonely nights and using up who knew how many tissues. It was unquestionably a masterpiece.

If that book couldn't become an instant sensation, then no book could.